At first sight, they look like packages tied with orange ribbons :)

As a matter of fact, these are wooden benches, taken apart and stacked for easier transportation - they will be stored someplace else until next Art Basel comes around, in one year.

Designed by INCH Furniture, these curved benches always bring new life to the otherwise empty Messeplatz. 

During Art Basel, oval wooden platforms, with greenery in their middle, provide delightful islands of repose. If only they could stay here all year round and become a permanent part of Basel's City Lounge!

Clock is ticking ... it's time for Art Basel to come to its end, at least for this year, in Basel.

An inside(r) view: the iconic Hall 2 clock, part of the design for the so-called Rundhofhalle, by Hans Hofmann, 1954.

On a narrow historic street in Kleinbasel, a brand new art fair has been inaugurated this year. Most accessible to a casual art lover is the space25 gallery which presents the core exhibition of The Digital Art Mile. 

Works that range from celebrated classics to the latest innovations include AI brains, deep dreams, infinite images ... Enjoyable is also the physical space within which the digital is displayed, an additional reason to pay a visit.

For more information, see www.artmeta.org/

Taking place at the same time as Art Basel, the exhibition organised by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture offers insight into current art and architecture scene in Switzerland. It accompanies the Swiss Art Competition - the world’s oldest art award, dating back to 1899. 

The exhibition in the Hall 1.1 also features the laureates of this year's Prix Meret Oppenheim:  Jacqueline Burckhardt, Marianne Burkhalter & Christian Sumi, and Valérie Favre. 

In the midst of the exhibition hall a temporary hostel has been set up. This project by the Lausanne-based group detritus had won last year's architecture prize. Using basic panels and hardware, it now offers an affordable overnight place for artists participating in the Swiss Awards event. 

GUM GUM 7 retractable hostel rooms,  by detritus www.d.etrit.us/bureau

For more on the Swiss Art Awards, see https://swissartawards.ch/swiss-art-awards/

This year, Art Parcours has been staged in Kleinbasel: on and around Claraplatz and along Clarastrasse, the street leading to the Messeplatz, the main venue of Art Basel. Many who live in this part of the city come from other lands - Kleinbasel has a much larger percentage of foreigners than the city on the other side of the river. Thus, it is fitting that one of the artworks, placed prominently in front of the St. Clara church, consists of multiple migrant bags. Filled with locally sourced soil and planted with common, weed-like plants, "Portable Garden" by the late Austrian artist Lois Weinberger addresses issues of global importance, such as 'migratory patterns of birds and winds defying borders.' This is what art experts tell us. Yet, one wonders what the colourful plastic bags, now displayed on Claraplatz, might mean to casual passers-by, people from all corners of the world who might have come to Kleinbasel carrying bags just like these. 

On the other side of Claraplatz, in an imposing modernist building, two display windows now feature large moving hands that appear to caress tree bark and rocks. Replacing the usual clothing items of the "Villiger Mode" store, these animated pieces by the Polish artist Joanna Piotrowska make use of photographic props and animation. Layered with the activity of the surroundings reflected in glass, the artwork's slow yet intent movements made me watch the display windows as if spellbound. After a while, I entered the store - no-one was inside except for the lady proprietor. 'With the art in your display windows, you must now have many more people visit,' I said looking at all the clothing racks. 'No, not at all. Nobody comes in now that they don't see dresses displayed in the windows,' she said, and added: 'It's only for one week, that's ok.' 

Walking further along Clarastrasse toward the Messeplatz, one has to stop at the house no. 11, one of only a few historicist buildings that haven't been replaced by something more "modern." Built in the late 19th century, this multifamily house stands on a property that extends from Clarastrasse all the way to Claramattweg. After passing through a rather dark hallway, one is surprised by a bright, green courtyard and its singing birds. A narrow pathway leads to a former carriage house - its large window opens a view into a distillery. It is here, in the "Stadtbrennerei & Kelter" that the Mexican artist Ximena Garrido-Lessa has placed her work. Made of ceramic and stainless steel, the pipes and tubes of her "Conversion Systems" refer to 'tensions between past and present, between cultural heritage and globalisation.' They fit perfectly with the workings of the distillery - a wonderful synergy.

What is great about Art Parcours is not only that it presents art in unexpected settings, but also that it allows us to discover places otherwise not publicly accessible. Who would have known what hides behind the symmetrical, ornamented facade? Peeking up the staircase leading to the upper floors, we can only imagine how it might be to live here, between a noisy street and a serene garden. Hope residents don't mind a casual visitor sneaking up the stairs. 

Further toward the Messeplatz and on the other street side, at Clarastrasse 30, we get to experience yet another artwork finding its place inside the complex workings of an existing shop. "Come Home" is the name of the architectural structure Alvaro Barrington has created specifically for Art Parcours - nested within the "Tropical Zone" store which specialises in import of African products to Switzerland, it 'invites contemplation about cultural production across the African diaspora.' It also encourages mingling between the store's regular customers and Art Basel visitors. Interweaving of cultures, broadening of perspectives, one may say. Produce displayed within Barrington's structure  is for sale, like everything else in the store. And like the artwork itself.

These are just four of twenty-two artworks presented in Kleinbasel by this year's Art Parcours. They invite us to learn more about the neighbourhood, its architecture and its people. As visitors to Art Basel, we can experience art in a novel context, we talk about inclusion and interaction. It would be interesting to hear what people who live here and who use these places every day say. 

Bright and sunny day, a glittering information kiosk welcomes visitors in front of the train station on Basel's Centralbahnplatz. Boxy building, seen in the background, is Herzog & de Meuron's Meret Oppenheim Haus.

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are reserved for VIP guests. Art Basel opens to all on Thursday, 13 June 2024. www.artbasel.com/basel/at-the-show

Out in the fields to the south of Basel - this was the place to be today! Basel Social Club has opened an impressive collection of artworks places amidst fields, in woods, on meadows in barns ... 

For a map of all art locations and info on performances, see www.baselsocialclub.com/2024.html

Suddenly, a phone booth has appeared on Basel's Marktplatz. Could it be part of an art installation ?

Julian Charrière's "Calls for Action" invites Baslers and their visitors to become participants and protectors of nature, from the Swiss Alps to the Indian forests in Ecuador.  For more info, see www.fondationbeyeler.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Presse/Medienmitteilungen_E/en2024/EN_MM_GLOBUS_FB_Julian_Charriere.pdf

Friday morning, ART BASEL begins next week, everyone is busy delivering and setting up for the big event ... 

During the year, the round City Lounge, part of Herzog & de Meuron's 2013 project for Messe Basel's New Hall, is usually rather quiet. These days, large trucks clog the area, workers are busy setting up the scene for the big event that starts next week.

If you are in Basel and would like to organise a bespoke architecture tour of the city, feel free to contact [email protected]

An enchanted, dreamlike space exists under the ground, inside the former slow sand filter. Located in Bruderholz, on Reservoirstrasse, it was constructed in 1905 as a part of Basel’s water supply system. For many years now, the so-called Filter 4 hasn't served its original purpose. Instead, it has been turned into a culture-oriented, multi-purpose space that can be used only from May to September.

During Art Basel, Filter 4 will host "We are Ona" - a pop-up restaurant that will present a series of events featuring fine dining, art and design. For more info, see ​https://filter4.ch/pf/we-are-ona-art-basel/